Pittsburgh and Detroit are two cities headed in different directions. And that has nothing to do with the Stanley Cup Finals, which, for a second year in a row, pits the Penguins against the Red Wings. When they talk about the big three around here, it’s about Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Hossa.

The metro Detroit area has been beset with bad economic news lately and a mere 3-1 win over the Penguins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final isn’t going to make life around here any easier.

Next week GM, the top American automaker, is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

And while the Red Wings may still be the top sports team in Detroit (though it would be interesting to see what would happen if the Lions ever put it all together one of these decades) nearly a quarter of the crowd of 20,066 inside Joe Louis Arena on Saturday night were sporting a shade of black and gold or powder blue.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock is one of the NHL’s heavyweights in the coaching fraternity, not only for his on-ice performance, but also for his savvy off it.

He knows how to use the media to his advantage, and it’s no coincidence that for the second straight day, he poked Sidney Crosby yet again with a head-hunting charge.

“To me, the battle they had going last night between [Henrik] Zetterberg and Crosby was a great battle, I thought,” Babcock said this morning. “I thought he went head-hunting right off the hop. His ability to respond was good. I think that’s a game within the game. If you’re a hockey purist and you like superstars who bring it, that’s a nice matchup.”...

“I’m not going to get involved with the games,” Crosby said this morning after being asked about Babcock’s comments. “He can say whatever he wants. I don’t think I’ve been known as a head-hunter throughout my career. He’s the first one ever to say that, so it’s pretty interesting stuff.”

The Detroit Red Wings can operate with most of their parts, still managing to motor along just fine without the odd key component, whether it be their leading scorer in Pavel Datsyuk, or the best defenceman in the world, six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom.

Take the drive train out of a Ford, and it just won’t run. Take Datsyuk and Kris Draper out of the Detroit lineup, and they still beat the Pittsburgh Penguins comfortably, cruising to a 3-1 win and a 1-0 lead in this 2009 Stanley Cup final rematch.

Good grief, the MSM kowtow to the Pens has reached the point of disgust: Lucky Bounces, Hank’s puck grab in the crease, hell they are even saying that Ozzie’s “hot streak” is cause for Pen optimisim (a true head-scratcher). I readily admit the Pens did play well for long stretches of game one. But luck, really? Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Here is a non-subjective statement about last nights result that should rain on the Pen’s apologists: “Teams winning the first game of the Stanley Cup final have gone on to take the series an astounding 78 per cent of the time.”

Fully realizing that I am a homer of the worst kind, how about a different perspective, how about the fact that the Pens played extremely well against an under-manned Wings team (i.e. no Datsyuk, the reigning Selke winner and finalist again this year), and managed 1 friggin goal. How about the fact that Crosby and the Pens got owned in the face-off dot, DET winning 71% of the draws. Or how about the fact that Crosby was held off the score sheet for only the third time in this postseason. Tell me, are you as tired as I am of Sid’s bitching? Don’t you think the Wings, defending Stanley Cup Champions, and winners of last nights game, deserve just a little respect?

Game two tonight Bitches, it is time to cry havoc and let slip the Dogs of War.

All I know is this: The Coy otes wouldn’t have gone bankrupt if Gary Bettman had been able to get “cost certainty” into the collective bargaining agreement.

Do you know what the Coyotes’ calamitous financial state tells us? It tells us that the league’s claims that a hard cap would ensure league-wide prosperity were bankrupt. It tells us that percentage of the gross means as much to low-revenue clubs as the commissioner’s assurances during the season that the media was blowing the Phoenix issue out of proportion.

Justin Abdelkader has almost always played close to his home in Muskegon. So scoring an insurance goal in his first Stanley Cup Final game with the Detroit Red Wings was like heaven on earth….

“It’s pretty crazy ... first Stanley Cup Final game and I get a goal. Wow! My family and buddies I grew up with are never going to believe this,” the 22-year-old said after his third-period goal helped the Detroit Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. “I’ve played on every stop on I-96 from Muskegon to Detroit, so you can’t believe the great taste I have in my mouth after savoring that one….

“He’s big. He’s strong. A tremendous skater. You could say he’s been on our radar for a long time,” Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland said. “Not to say he won’t score goals, because he was pretty productive at Michigan State and at Grand Rapids (AHL). But we see him as a physical player who someday we envision as a shutdown forward, someone who can help neutralize the other team’s best forwards.

“That job may not sound glamorous, but to the Red Wings, it’s an essential part of winning—one of those important puzzle pieces.”

• Why Detroit should win the Stanley Cup: Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski and Niklas Kronwall are better than any single Pittsburgh defenceman.

• Smart: Hiring Pat Quinn to coach the Edmonton Oilers. Smarter: Hiring Tom Renney to assist him. And now that GM Steve Tambellini has fixed his coaching staff, all he has to do is fix his messed-up roster.

• An NHL scout on pending free agent Jay Bouwmeester: “The hardest thing to do is evaluate a defenceman on a bad team. I don’t think anybody really knows how good this guy is.”

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